Plasmon Resonances of Semiconductor Nanocrystals: Physical Principles and New Opportunities

The discovery of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) in doped semiconductor nanocrystals has opened a new regime in plasmonics. We address both the technological and fundamental advances made possible by the realization of LSPRs in semiconductor nanocrystals. LSPRs were originally thought to be specific only to metallic nanostructures, but since their manifestation in semiconductor nanostructures, LSPRs are being seen as ubiquitous optical signatures of charge carriers. As fingerprints of a charge carrier collection, LSPRs of semiconductors are emerging as optical probes of processes that involve carrier dynamics, including redox reactions, electrochemistry, phase transitions, and photocatalysis. Unlike their electrical counterparts, LSPRs allow remote contactless probing and minimal device design. Ultrasmall semiconductor quantum dots are now enabling access to plasmon resonances of a handful of charge carriers, allowing us to ask fundamental questions regarding the lower limit of charge carriers needed to sustain a plasmon resonance, the emergence of a collective mode from a single-electron transition, and the effect of quantum confinement on plasmon resonances. These fundamental issues are discussed here, along with the need for new physical models required to capture the unique aspects of semiconductor LSPRs.